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Age-associated cardiovascular changes in health: impact on cardiovascular disease in older persons
1Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging/NIH, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. lakattae@grc.nia.nih.gov
Insights
Aging significantly impacts cardiovascular health, altering structure and function. Understanding these age-associated changes is crucial for preventing and treating cardiovascular disease in older adults.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Science
- Gerontology
- Physiology
Background:
- Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the US, particularly in individuals aged 65 and above.
- Advanced age is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with altered clinical manifestations in older adults.
- Age-associated changes in cardiovascular structure and function interact with disease-specific mechanisms, complicating prognosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand age-associated changes in cardiovascular structure and function in healthy individuals.
- To explore the interactions between lifestyle, cardiovascular disease, and the aging process.
- To provide mechanistic insights into cardiovascular aging through human and animal studies.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of community-dwelling volunteers (Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging).
- Rigorous screening for clinical and occult cardiovascular disease.
- Characterization of lifestyle factors, including exercise habits.
- Integration of human observations with animal model experiments.
Main Results:
- Highlights specific age-related changes in resting cardiovascular structure and function.
- Identifies alterations in cardiovascular reserve capacity with advancing age in healthy humans.
- Provides potential mechanistic insights into cardiovascular aging.
Conclusions:
- A fundamental understanding of age-associated cardiovascular changes is essential for effective prevention and treatment in older populations.
- The study emphasizes the complex interplay between aging, lifestyle, and cardiovascular health.
- Further research integrating human and animal data is needed to elucidate cardiovascular aging mechanisms.
Abstract:
In the United States, cardiovascular disease, e.g., atherosclerosis and hypertension, that lead to heart failure and stroke, is the leading cause of mortality, accounting for over 40 percent of deaths in those aged 65 years and above. Over 80 percent of all cardio-vascular deaths occur in the same age group. Thus, age, per se, is the major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Clinical manifestations and prognosis of these cardiovascular diseases likely become altered in older persons with advanced age because interactions occur between age-associated cardiovascular changes in health and specific pathophysiologic mechanisms that underlie a disease. A fundamental understanding of age-associated changes in cardiovascular structure and function ranging in scope from humans to molecules is required for effective and efficient prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease in older persons. A sustained effort over the past two decades has been applied to characterize the multiple effects of aging in health on cardiovascular structure and function in a single study population, the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging. In these studies, community dwelling, volunteer participants are rigorously screened to detect both clinical and occult cardiovascular disease and characterized with respect to lifestyle, e.g. exercise habits, in an attempt to deconvolute interactions among lifestyle, cardiovascular disease and the aging process in health. This review highlights some specific changes in resting cardiovascular structure and function and cardiovascular reserve capacity that occur with advancing age in healthy humans. Observations from relevant experiments in animal models have been integrated with those in humans to provide possible mechanistic insight.